Seder

It's Passover, and tonight I went to a seder given by my friends Ken and Karen Firestein. There were about 15 of us, and Ken led us through the prayers, songs and eating of the ritual foods (matzah, horseradish, parsley dipped in salt water) and drinking of the ritual wine (four glasses). Then we got to the dinner, itself, which was delicious (meat done by Karen, the rest of the items—salad, kugel, veggies, desserts—provided by the guests.

I met Ken sometime around 1984 or '85, when he and I both worked in the reference department of Shields Library, and we became friends soon enough. I wasn't Jewish back then, but my interest was alive and well, and when we'd go on coffee breaks together, Ken and I would often talk about Judaism. It was Ken who invited me to my first seder way back when. One of the guests tonight was Seymour Howard, professor emeritus of art, whom I also knew years ago when he'd come into the reference department and offer me sunflower seeds. Never would I have thought he and I would find ourselves seated at the same seder table. This is what happens when you get adopted into the tribe.